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I have a rat 4 that I bought to use camping. it turned out to be a little useless to me. It is too short to really do well splitting wood although it takes a baton without blinking as it has a thick broad spine and good heft. It is too long to really do delicate work and it is too fat to do good food prep and carving.

Well.... I decided I'm not going to baton with it anymore, and i don't mind removing some of the black protective finish to make it a useful blade. I thought about thinning it and really changing the angle. What stone should i use to really set a new edge, maybe convex it for example? My current stone that is the roughest is a chosera 400. Maybe that one is enough? I was thinking about a chosera 220 but maybe something is better as that one seems to really wear fast. Is there something else out there I should look at?

Thanks cooldays

burkecutlery

Post subject: Re: what stone do i need?

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2012 7:29 am

Joined: Wed Apr 25, 2012 2:55 pmPosts: 473

Unless you are just buying for fun, your 400 should be plenty rough enough.

If you want to convex it though, I'd suggest a mousepad and sandpapers. Worked great for me.

I wasn't sure. The rat 4 is very thick and strong. It is absolutely nothing like a kitchen knife. It reminds me when i do tasks like cut fruit and cheese more like I'm preparing food with an axe head....

If you think it is enough I can give it a try thanks.

Jason B.

Post subject: Re: what stone do i need?

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2012 3:38 pm

Joined: Tue May 29, 2012 12:29 amPosts: 1285

The RAT's are only hardened to a 57-58 so they are not difficult to sharpen.

It will never be a kitchen knife and trying to thin it down will only ruin its abilities to perform its intended tasks. The hardness is simply not high enough to support the crazy low angles or high grit finishes so trying will only end in failure.

Last time I sharpened a rat4 I used my 1k & 6k Arashiyama stones.

ken123

Post subject: Re: what stone do i need?

Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2012 10:17 am

Forum Moderator

Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2012 4:45 amPosts: 1866Location: Skype k_schwartz

"It is absolutely nothing like a kitchen knife. "

Putting that and Jason's post together - really turning this into a kitchen knife is like trying to drag race a cadillac. It's the wrong tool for the job. There are some rought tasks in the kitchen, so leave it for that and get a kitchen knife instead - you will be much happier.

BTW the Chocera line doesn't have a 220 stone. Are you talking about a Naniwa superstone and - if so - are you also talking about a Naniwa superstone 400? This is a much softer stone than the Chocera.

I could give advice on good coarse stones, but I wouldn't want to encourage you into morphing the knife into something not ideal for any task in particular.

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